Norwalk Hospital Gets $10M in Memory of Darien's Anne & Harold McGraw Jr.

officials on Friday announced that the children of longtime Darien donors Anne P. and Harold W. McGraw Jr. are giving the hospital it's single, largest gift, ever—$10 million for emergency and outpatient care facilities.

The money is being donated by the couple's children, according to a news release issued by the hospital.

"The McGraws’ incredibly generous gift, the largest Norwalk Hospital has ever received, and among the largest gifts to a Connecticut Hospital, will truly transform our ability to deliver the most compassionate, advanced medical care to our community," said Dan DeBarba, Norwalk Hospital president and CEO, said in the statement.

“Our parents had a lifelong commitment to helping others,” their daughter, Sue McGraw, said in a statement released by the hospital.

McGraw, former chairman, president and CEO of McGraw-Hill, the family publishing business, died in 2010, eight years after his wife, the former Anne Per-Lee, according to the news release.

How the donation will be used

The $10 million will go to establish The Anne P. and Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Center for outpatient care, hospital officials said.

“The new Ambulatory Pavilion will include a new Cancer Center, an expanded Emergency Department, a state-of-the-art Center for Digestive Diseases, and updated facilities for Ambulatory Surgery,” according to the press release, issued by hospital Communications Manager Carol Brennan-Smith.

The project encompasses 90,000 square feet of new construction, according to the release. Officials say they expect to break ground this fall for completion in three years.

The McGraws

Here are the hospital’s biographies of the McGraws, copied from the release:

"Born in 1918 in New York City, Harold McGraw, Jr. graduated from Princeton University in 1940, served as a captain in the Army Air Corps in World War II, and then worked in the advertising agency and book retailing fields before joining McGraw-Hill (founded in 1888 by his grandfather James H. McGraw) as a sales representative in its Book Company in 1947.

"He held many publishing responsibilities in his 50-plus years with the firm, becoming President of the McGraw-Hill Book Company in 1968, and then president of the parent corporation, McGraw-Hill, Inc., its chief executive officer, and chairman of the board. He retired in 1988 at 70 after being elected chairman emeritus.

"McGraw, Jr. married Anne Per-Lee, who volunteered for many years at Norwalk Hospital. Mrs. McGraw passed away in 2002. Mr. McGraw passed away in 2010.

"With a passion for education, the McGraws focused their philanthropy on areas close to their heart—higher education, literacy programs and public libraries. They cared deeply for those less fortunate."

More information is available on the hospital’s website.

Norwalk Hospital isn't the only area institution favored by McGraw family largesse. A Darien resident when he died, McGraw was a longtime supporter of the Darien Library, where a fellowship for a children's librarian was set up with funds donated by the McGraw family.

Business fight

McGraw took the family business to new heights during his term as head of the company, according to McGraw's New York Times obituary, died a little over two years ago, in March 2010, at his home. He was 92. The Times reported that his son, Harold W. "Terry" McGraw III, later became head of McGraw-Hill and was a Darien resident when his father died, as was their daughter, Sue.

In 1979, "one of the bitterest takeover attempts in Wall Street history," according to the obituary, began when American Express attempted a hostile takeover of McGraw-Hill.

The Times obituary quoted a Newsweek report that said days after the initial offer from American Express, 'his face streaked with perspiration, his voice trembling with emotion, the chairman of McGraw-Hill formally presented his board’s unanimous rejection.'"